Fundamentally: A Novel

"That’s accurate. Well, it’s not quite Bridget Jones , but it is the most surprising book on the list. I saw the title and—as I say, I came to the work knowing nothing—and I thought, okay, it will be a very serious book about fundamentalism and how it affects young girls like Shamima Begum, groomed young girls who were radicalised and went out to join ISIS. And it is about those girls. But, oh my God, this book is so funny. How she’s managed to make that subject funny and light, I don’t know. It peels back the veneer of sophistication and seriousness around the UN. You’d assume it was all very serious and proper, but no. It also doesn’t pull its punches about who these women are and what they want, as well as the protagonist herself being a surprising person of what you might think Muslim women are. It’s very good and, above all, funny. It’s definitely a book that you turn the pages to see what happens. Oh, completely. Women are leading the way in tackling some of these big subjects. They aren’t shying away from surprising narrators, ugly subjects , writing about sex in new and brave ways. From old subjects that we think we know, or—like Elizabeth Strout—saying, well, this is just who I am and what I write about."

"Fundamentally is about an academic who is from a Muslim background. She’s been pushed away by her family and her relationship, and she wants something new. She gets a U.N. job in Iraq , and because of all of her academic experience, she’s put on a program where she is rehabilitating ISIS women. This is the book that was the most surprising for me. It’s definitely a story of our time, the ISIS brides. I’ve read the papers and been involved in various conflicts over in the Middle East. I thought I understood this topic, but this book is wonderful in the way it reveals new aspects to the subject—and does it in such a very intelligent, heartwarming, and funny way. When you hear the topic, you think it’s going to be a fairly serious book, but it’s very readable. It’s the only book where I actually burst out laughing two or three times because it gets you. You’re in a deep and serious subject, but it’s able to deliver it in such an understandable, amusing, and readable way. As you say, it is a bit Bridget Jones , with a few storylines about relationships, romance, and love. It’s also about working in government agencies—the bureaucracy and some of the decisions that are made. But the main line that goes through it is about the vulnerability of the ISIS brides and how they potentially have been duped into being part of that world and how they’re now stuck in aid camps and have no route of repatriation in any way, shape, or form. That was enlightening to me. Yes, she’s with the Kurdish rebels. The book takes you through Iraq, into the aid camps, and on some Middle Eastern adventures. It’s brilliant. It was, especially because they’re all so different. We had lengthy discussions as a judging panel. Everyone had their favourites. In the end, we focused on the fundamentals: what adventure is, how enjoyable and how much of a page-turner the book was to read, and how much you grew from it. So yes, it was a really difficult decision. It was incredibly close. I’m sure if it had been a prize with a slightly different focus, any one of the books could have won. It’s a testament to the skill, the creativity, the artistic nature, and just the intelligence of the authors and the amazing books that they’ve written. I wrote it at the end of my military career as a fighter pilot and a test pilot. It’s called Hazard Spectrum , because we all live with hazard, but we’re all at different points on the spectrum. The book starts with me surviving a jet accident that experts said was unsurvivable. I ejected, and my instructor ejected milliseconds later and was instantly killed. Then there were the mental demons and the support that I needed to be able to get back in the cockpit and continue what was my dream, rather than abandoning it and going elsewhere. It’s about progressing through all the jet types—continuing on the aircraft that nearly killed me and taking it to war in Afghanistan . The war in Afghanistan was hard. It was bloody, it was messy. I had to make some decisions and do some things that training just can’t prepare you for, and live with them. The kinds of scenarios that you’re presented with, some are just impossible decisions, but you’ve got to make them because British and Coalition lives are depending on them. That involves putting your own life at risk as well, day in, day out. It then talks about other stages of my career, as a commando and paratrooper. The book also reflects on when I was younger, and being told at school—when I said I wanted to be a pilot—that people from around here don’t go on to become pilots, and to go away and think of something more sensible. It’s about the challenges of failing and getting up all the time to become a pilot, that whole journey, and the twists and turns that it takes, all the life-and-death decisions along the way. In the end, I was selected as one of the UK’s top test pilots. I tested the new stealth F-35 fighter jet, and did the first launch and landing on board the Queen Elizabeth carrier. It’s a $2 trillion project, sitting in your hands. So it’s that whole journey from being told you can’t and being rejected several times, to being nearly killed once, and close to being killed a number of times during war, and then that pinnacle. That’s the story. It’s a roller coaster, I’m told. I wrote it to be gripping all the way through, so that you can’t put it down. You question what you would do in those scenarios, and wonder how you would get through some of those situations that I found myself in. The ultimate ambition was that if the book could encourage one person to do something that they thought they couldn’t do, that would be enough, and it would have achieved its goal. It was written for somebody who’s got no aviation background or military experience—for any member of my family or friends to understand what it’s about without any acronyms or footnotes. It’s supposed to be completely understandable and relatable for everybody, so you can join the adventure and experience what it’s like to sit in the ejection seat, to eject, to be involved in accidents, in conflict, to make those life and death decisions, and ultimately, to be responsible for the world’s largest defence project. I run a company that trains civil airline pilots around the world. It’s a publishing company called Padpilot , and we publish all the theoretical training material that a pilot needs. A bit like a driving license and you’ve got to learn the Highway Code, we write all the books and theoretical knowledge materials that you need to pass your pilot examinations. That’s what I do at the moment. It’s about giving back. I also work as a STEM ambassador and give lots of talks at primary and secondary schools. I’m a trustee of the Spitfire association. The public chose ‘the 100 faces that have had the most impact over the last 100 years in Staffordshire’ for a mural in Stoke-on-Trent, and they put my face on there. It was such a privilege because I’m right there next to Reginald Mitchell, who designed the Spitfire. I’m really proud of that. Stafford University recently made me a doctor of the university. So any kind of entrepreneur, business industry, or personal growth initiative they need help with, I try and share my expertise. I wanted to go straight in, but I was refused entry into the RAF at least two or three times. I was told to go and get more life experience, so I went to university. I studied aerospace engineering, mostly because of a picture on the prospectus at Manchester University. It was all words, and then there was a picture of an airplane, and it said aerospace engineering. So I chose that. I did that for three years, did quite well, and then reapplied to the Air Force and the Navy. Both accepted me. So I had a choice, which was good. I joined the Navy because as I explain in my book, if you’re continually trying something and told, effectively, that you don’t fit and then come across somewhere else where you don’t try much at all, and they think you’re great and a natural fit, that’s the one to go for—rather than trying to fit a round peg into a square hole all the time. If there is a round hole, go for it. So I joined the Navy, and sure enough, that decision was the best decision I’ve made, because then it all just happened. It was hard work, but I wasn’t fighting against a culture that didn’t accept me."

"Yes, it’s terrific and just won the Comedy Women in Print Prize this week. Again, this is a debut novel, but what an extraordinary voice! Younis has a phenomenal backstory . She did work for an NGO in Iraq, in a programme with former ISIS women. That’s the setting for this novel, which wouldn’t seem to obviously lend itself to comedy. But she has a dry, funny, sharp, and often quite rude way of writing. Nadia is the main character who has gone to Iraq without much forethought. She’s gone to escape a break-up and finds herself running this programme to deradicalize ISIS brides. Through this, she meets an East London teenager who ran off to join ISIS in search of adventure, and finds she has got a lot in common with this young woman. And there’s a suspense plot in there as well. There is substance to this one, because it is dealing with really quite serious questions. Younis has some really smart insights into the do-gooding of the UN, and a part of history where there has been real tragedy and brutality. Yet she brings out that dark humour, a sort of gallows humour that people will use in difficult situations. You can feel the authenticity of it."